


The Dark of Time

by clinicallysarcastic



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Aegis Swap (Xenoblade Chronicles 2), Alternate Universe, Mild Language, Multi, Spoilers, but... like... stoic bitch, jin is the stay at home dad, ontos is BITCH, rated m for malos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-10-24 14:32:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17706065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clinicallysarcastic/pseuds/clinicallysarcastic
Summary: [SPOILERS]What if Malos was awoken by Addam? What if Mythra/Pyra was sent to another universe instead of Ontos, and Ontos took her place?After the Aegis War 500 years ago where Malos and Ontos fought, Alrest was left in ruin, both the Torna and Indol Titan falling in the war. After the war, Malos was sealed away in deep rest, agreeing that Alrest was not ready for his power.Now, after five centuries, Malos is awoken by a young salvager by the name of Rex. Malos and Rex now have to travel to Elysium to save the world and stop Ontos once again.





	1. Encounters (P1)

**Author's Note:**

> hi there!! this here is a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 AU where Ontos (the third aegis) is awoken instead of Pyra/Mythra, who instead are sent to a different universe. so basically this is an extreme Aegis swap AU. many things will be different, but many will also still stay the same.  
> I write on my own time, so I can't say for certain when this will be updated, but I'll do my best to write more parts as much as I can.  
> there will be major spoilers within this story, so if you haven't beaten the game yet, I highly recommend you not read this as character deaths and other spoilers will be prevalent here 
> 
> just a note, all chapters are separated into parts, (normally) corresponding with the different parts in the game. in the beginning, many of the lines/dialogue will be the same and some parts later on still will be. however, as the story goes on, there will be many parts that are not similar to the original game
> 
> this is my first time posting here and also my first time writing a full-on AU, so please be patient with me!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!  
> \- Kenzie

#  **Chapter One: Encounters**

## Part One: Argentum

Amongst the Cloud Sea— a large body of fluffy clouds acting as an ocean to the world of Alrest— sat a young salvager, no older than 18, riding on the back of a dragon-like Titan. His brown hair swayed in the wind as the Titan traversed the vast white sea. The salvager stared out at the sea, his golden eyes sparkling with fulfillment.

The boy looked over to the Titan and spoke up. “Hey, Gramps.”

“Yes, Rex?” the Titan drawled, slowly turning his head to look back at the salvager on his back. 

“Are we almost there yet?”

“Be patient, Rex,” the Titan replied. “It takes time to get from place to place on these old legs,” he reminded the young salvager. “It should only be another few hours.” Rex sighed at the response and stood up from his seat beside a put out campfire.

“Let me know when we’re finally there, okay, Gramps?” he said as he made his way into the small shack on the Titan’s back.

“Of course, Rex.” 

 

After about three hours had passed, the Titan’s steps slowed and his voice called out.

“Rex, you’ll be ready to disembark in a moment.”

“Alright! Thank you, Gramps!” Rex replied, practically bouncing out of the little shack with a grin spread across his face. “I can’t wait to send the earnings back home.”

“You did pull up quite the find, Rex,” the Titan commented, nodding his head. “I’m sure Corinne and the rest of the town will be very pleased.”

“I know they will!” Rex responded optimistically, a glint in his eyes. At this, the Titan chuckled but said no more as he came to a complete stop by a dock. “Thank you, Gramps!” Rex said as he quickly hopped off onto the wooden dock.

“Well now, If it isn’t Rex! How’s business doing?” A dusty brown haired man approached the young salvager, a welcoming smile on his face.

“It’s going pretty good! Else I wouldn’t be here, you know,” the salvager replied with a grin. 

The man laughed and nodded. “That’s a fair point. Now, which one am I unloading?”

Rex shook his head at that. “Never mind that for now. We can leave that for until I’m done negotiating. It shouldn’t take too long.”

“Well, you know the drill. Mooring’s fifteen gold per half-day,” the man reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

“I know! I’ll have your gold after I sell everything, alright? I’ll see you in a bit! Later,” Rex said as he bounded for the Trade Guild entrance.

“Hey! You should know by now I don’t do credit! Rex!” the man shouted before sighing and shaking his head. “He does this every single time.”

Rex laughed as he slowed his pace, glancing over to his right to see a large, black and gold ship with no Titan attached.

“Oh, awesome! That ship’s huge, and it’s not even a Titan ship!” he marveled, staring in wonder at the ship. After a moment of marvelling at the ship, he continued on his way to the Trade Guild, greeting a few people as he made his way over to the Nopon at the Central Exchange.

“Hey, Melolo!” he greeted the tan Nopon. “I got a fresh haul out there, wanted to come to you first to make some negotiations.”

“Hello, friend!” Melolo replied, waving at the young salvager. “Melolo sure we can make some arrangements! Let’s talk.”

 

The two talked for a little bit before the Nopon decided on a final price.

“ _ What _ ?! That’s it?” Rex asked, baffled at the Nopon’s small price. “But-”

“Is life! This still more than I give to non-friend,” Melolo stated simply. “If you bring military supplies, however, then you get good price!” he said before looking over at the group of Ardainian soldiers not too far away. “Weaponry is hot item now, it smart to bring,” the Nopon suggested. “So, what friend think? Melolo make it worth your while.”

“Melolo, I have told you this before. I stay away from that sorta thing,” Rex replied dully. The Nopon sighed and looked down.

“Is shame. Rex good salvager! Really could be good way to earn pretty penny,” Melolo said before huffing in annoyance. “Waste of talent, if you ask me!” Rex was about to comment but was cut off by Melolo continuing. “Anyhoo! Where were we?” Rex sighed and looked down.

“Alright. I’ll take your offer. I’ll take two hundred now and you know what to do with the rest of it.” he told the Nopon, clearly disappointed.

“Okie-doodles!” Melolo replied cheerfully. “To Corinne of Fonsett Village, is right?”

“Yeah.”

Melolo sighed. “Is beautiful thing, sending money home at such young age. I touched!” he said warmly. “Wish my littlepon did same!” Rex laughed at this and shrugged.

“It’s cause Gramps doesn’t charge rent!” he said, laughing. “Alright, now, I’m counting on ya!” Rex said as he walked away from the counter.

“Roger! Pleasure doing business!”

 

As Rex walked away, another Nopon, followed by two large men approached him. Rex recognized the Nopon as the salvager and also a friend and mentor of his, Pupunin.

“Hello, Rex,” Pupunin greeted Rex, waving a wing at him.

“Hey! Pupunin, it’s been a while!” Rex said, smiling at the Nopon.

“Rex looking high spirits! Ah, no… how say…, ah yes! Peppy!” the Nopon stated, looking up at the salvager.

“Well, I’ve been worse! So do you got something for me? New job?” Rex asked, shifting his weight to one foot, eager to hear what the Nopon had to say.

“Hm, something like that. Ah! By the way… Rex come from Fonsett Village in Leftherian Archipelago, correct?”

Rex nodded. “Yeah, that’s right? Uh, why do you ask?” he asked, curious about the Nopon’s question.

“Well then, you should go straight to boardroom of Chairman!” the Nopon replied quickly, waving a wing towards the staircase to his left. 

“Wait, what? What’s going on?” Rex frowned, confused. For every question answered, it seemed another would come up.

“Chairman Bana ask for Rex by name!” Pupunin responded. Rex was baffled at this response. He couldn't imagine why the Chairman himself would want to see him.

“The… the Chairman? For me?” he questioned, bewildered at his current situation.

Pupunin nodded quickly. “Yes! I suggest you hurry!”

“Y-yeah, okay!” After this, Rex took for the stairs, quickly climbing up the two sets of stairs to the boardroom. He stopped at the top for a moment before cautiously making his way into the room. In there, he was greeted by a large, turquoise Nopon with purple hair and large amounts of jewelry. Two women stood at both sides of large Nopon, their hand resting on their hips.

“Thank you for accepting summons!” the Nopon said. “I Bana, Chairman of Argentum Trade Guild,” he introduced himself, pointing a wing to himself.

“P-pleased to, uh, make your acquaintance…” Rex said, somewhat nervously. He rubbed the back of his head and briefly glanced away from Bana.

“Me hear from Pupunin that friend is salvager of… some renown,” Bana stated, going quiet for a moment before continuing. “That being case, I have… teensy weensy thing to ask of Rex.”

“A-a request straight from the Chairman?” Rex asked, bewildered. Not only had he been summoned by the Chairman, but he now was being given a request straight from him.

“Reward is… one hundred thousand gold,” the Nopon said blandly, as though it were nothing.

“A-a hundred  _ thousand _ ?!” Rex stuttered, his golden eyes wide.

Bana smiled at this. “Friend hear right. Actually, that just the advance,” he said slowly. “Another one hundred thousand provided upon completing job.”

“Two hundred thousand gold in total?! I-I must be dreaming…” Rex replied, dazed. After a moment he shook his head and stepped forward, determination glinting in his eyes. “I’ll do it!” he said. “I hereby swear to use every skill I possess to ensure this job is successful! I promise I won’t let you down!”

Bana leaned forward, gazing down upon Rex. “You agree… without even hearing details of job?”

“O-oh, uh, right! Um, what kind of job is it?” Rex asked awkwardly, glancing down at the floor.

“... You really have skills for this?” Bana asked, sounding doubtful.

Rex nodded quickly. “Of course! I’ll be fine,” he insisted. Bana just shrugged at this.

“Meh, if you say,” he said quickly. “Here! Crew will explain the task,” Bana told Rex before he turned to the left to one of the women. “Bring them in.” The woman nodded, saying nothing as she walked over to the door on her left and opened it, walking through the now open entrance. Rex watched her leave, not saying a word.

After a few moments, three people walked out. First, a Gormotti girl, no older than Rex himself, with somewhat short beige hair and bronze eyes. Following the Gormotti girl was a large, white and fluffy tiger creature with armor, likely the girl’s blade. After the girl and the tiger came a tall cloaked man with semi-curly white hair that fell to about his shoulders and cold grey eyes to match his expressionless face. Following him was a large black, blue and gold Blade. Finally, a somewhat tall man came out. Over his face he wore a grey horned mask that had gaps around his mouth and his light, icy blue eyes. His hair was a very pale silver, almost white, and was long, falling down to his shoulders. He, unlike the previous two, was not followed by a Blade. As each one walked out, they took a glance at Rex, all except the last one, who kept his gaze on the ground. 

Rex could only stand and stare at them in amazement. “D-Drivers…? And… Blades?” he gawked at them, amazed. “Whoa! They look so cool!” he exclaimed to himself.

Ignoring Rex’s comment, the masked man stepped forward. “So…” he spoke up, his voice calm and smooth. “There’s something that we want to haul up.”


	2. Encounters (P2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyoooo- I apologize for the long wait!! I went through a long bout of inactivity due to school. but I've now graduated!! unfortunately, I also will be without a laptop soon, so this may be the last chapter for a little bit, sorry!!
> 
> I'm trying to stray a little further from the original story now, making my own words and whatnot, so... yee!! things are definitely going to start straying from here on out!!
> 
> only three more parts after this and then we're at the next chapter!!! woo!!

## Part Two: Masks and Cloaks

“It showed up in uncharted waters, but it’s a long way down,” the masked man explained, his voice not quite monotonous, but also harboring little to no emotion. Rex stared at him in amazement for a few more moments before shaking his head.

“Uh, great! I always enjoy a good challenge!” the salvager replied, grinning widely. The masked man did not comment, staring at Rex with what he could only assume to be an unimpressed expression.

“Bana offered team of veterans for this job, but…” Rex turned around to look at the large Nopon. “This crew very picky! They want small elite team, from Leftheria only!” the Nopon explained. “Stroke of genius hit Bana! Should hire Rex!” Rex, unsure of how to react, smiled awkwardly before throwing his nose up to the air in a show of confidence.

“You made the right choice! I’m the best for the job, no-” Rex was stopped mid sentence when a giggling fit of laughter erupted from the Gormotti girl.

“Really? You? A _child salvager_?” she asked, laughing harder before turning to the masked man. “Jin, you can’t be serious. We can’t go and hire a babysitter for this outing!” Rex felt his cheeks flush red at her comment. The masked man, who Rex assumed to be the one named Jin, said nothing and only looked away.

“What the hell?” he spat out, crossing his arms. “You don’t look to be any older than me!”

“At least I would never wet myself at being promised a measly little hundred grand!”

“What’re you tryin’ to say?!” Rex quickly stepped towards the Gormotti girl, infuriated at her teasing. However, he quickly took a step back when the tiger-like Blade moved closer to him.

The Blade cleared his throat and looked up to Rex. “Rex, was it?” Rex nodded his head, but said nothing. “I sincerely ask you to excuse my lady’s discourtesy, she does not mean what she says.”

“Dromarch!” the girl seethed, turning to her Blade. “What have I told you about speaking for me? Shut your-”

“Nia, quiet yourself.” Rex turned to see the cloaked man step forth, looking down at Nia. His voice was soft and lacking emotion, similar to Jin’s, yet, seeming to lack even more emotion. He then turned to the young salvager, no expression in his grey eyes. “However, I do see your point,” he commented, seeming to look Rex over. “Not to worry though… It should be easy enough to make sure…” Rex yelped and nearly fell backwards at the man’s sudden rush towards him. Pulling out his own sword, Rex cursed, metal clanging against metal. Despite the cloaked man’s sudden attack, his expression did not change. He did not appear angry. Finally, Rex was thrown backward, stumbling and panting, trying  to catch his breath.

“What the hell’re you playing at?!” he spat, glaring at the cloaked man. Nia glared over to the man, stepping towards him in a defiant manner.

“Algol!” she shouted, revealing the strange man’s name. “Really? What happened to you being all calm and collected? What business do you have beating up a kid?”

Algol stared down at her, returning his sword. “I do believe you said it yourself, Nia,” he responded, looking over to Rex. “Regardless, it doesn’t matter now, he has proved himself,” he concluded, his grey eyes flashing. “You have skill, Rex, I will admit that. I do hope you will work as hard as you fight.” With that, the cloaked man took his leave, gesturing for the rest of the group to follow. Jin paused there for a moment before nodding and following, not saying a word. Nia glared at Rex and stomped off with a huff, her Blade taking a moment to bow to Rex before following his Driver.

“Meh-meh-meh! Bana see Rex get along great with friends!” Bana spoke up with a laugh. As Rex relaxed and returned his own sword, he heard a loud clink from the table behind him. “Here is advance! Use to buy needed gear, then go to dock! Bana arranged excellent vessel for you!” Rex nodded, walking over to collect the money.

“You got it!” he said with a grin, quickly taking his leave. “Right then…” Looking around, Rex scratched the back of his head. “ _There are plenty of preparations to make, but… I should probably check in with Gramps first_ ,” he thought to himself. “ _He’d give me hell if I just took off on a random ship without telling him!_ ” With that, the young salvager made his way out to where Gramps was.

“Ah, Rex, you’re back! I was beginnin’ to doubt you’d come!” the dusty brown haired man said. “Between the fee for mooring Gramps here and for unloading your goods, that’ll be fifteen gold in total. You ready to pay up now?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course! Here ya’ go, Hirkham!” Rex handed him the money with a grin, walking past him and over to Gramps. “So, Gramps!” The Titan turned his head with a hum.

“Yes, Rex? It took you long enough to return,” he commented.

“Yeah, sorry about that!” Rex grinned sheepishly. “Anyway! So, I got a request straight from the Chairman himself! For two hundred thousand gold! I got one hundred thousand just for the advance!” he chirped, his golden eyes shining in excitement. Before the Titan could comment, Rex continued on. “I’m gonna go off with these Drivers and their Blades to pull somethin’ up and then I’ll be back!” the salvager explained further.  “And that just about covers it. All right, I’ll see ya later! Should be back in a day or two. Take it easy, Gramps!” he finished, waving and turning to leave.

“That does not “just about cover it” in the slightest!” the Titan growled. Rex jumped back, surprised at the Titan’s anger. “Why would you take a job you know nothing about? You don’t even know your employer!”

Rex recovered and waved his hand dismissively. “Gramps, did you forget already? This came from the Chairman! What more do you need?” he asked before then shrugging. “Anyway, I better get going. You can take a nap while you wait!” he told the Titan, quickly running off before he could be scolded any further. Ignoring the Titan’s shouts of protest, he grinned and ran back inside to prepare.

The young salvager then geared up, spending five thousand gold on a vest, and another few hundred or so on food supplies. The rest, he decided, he would give back to Fonsett.

After Rex had finished up his preparations, he confidently strutted out, excited for the oncoming mission, unaware of what tragedies would come out of one simple job.

Approaching the ship, he couldn’t help but gawk at its awesome size. “Wow… I’m going to get to ride on the Maelstrom?” he thought aloud, grinning in excitement. He heard a scoff from behind him and soon enough, Nia passed by him.

“What a child,” she commented, though she didn’t stay long enough for Rex to comment. Grumbling, he glared at her, crossing his arms as the rest of the group walked past. However, Algol stopped and turned to him.

“Rex, correct?” Rex nodded. “You don’t have anyone to see you off, correct? Well, you have night watch for tonight. Don’t forget.”

“Uh, right, of course, Algol!” Rex replied awkwardly. With that, the cloaked man swiftly walked past him. Jin paused behind him, looking to Rex and then to Algol who had now walked rather far ahead of him.

“Make sure you rest up, this will not be an easy mission,” Jin told him, almost… sounding concerned? Rex just grinned at him, taking a confident stance.

“You got it! I got this mission, no problem, you can count on me!” he replied. Jin sighed quietly and made his way to the ship. Quickly, Rex followed, joining up beside Jin. “So, what exactly are we hauling up?” he asked. He supposed he should have asked before he took on the mission, but it’s not like it mattered that much, right?

Jin looked over to Rex but only shook his head, “I am in… no position to disclose details,” he answered, quickly walking past him, leaving the young salvager behind. Rex frowned in confusion, but quickened his pace to catch up.

“Hey, Jin!” he called out, confused at the masked man’s response. “Wait up!” Rex sprinted forward, but Jin had already disappeared into the ship. When Rex looked around, he was nowhere to be seen. Rex let out a sigh and continued on in. He supposed he should try to speak with the rest of the crew. He didn’t know these people at all and it wouldn’t hurt to get to know them better since he would be working with them, even if only for this mission.


End file.
